Evaluation - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Prezi - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Glogster - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Construction - Final Music Video

This is our finished product of our music video

Research and Planning - Understanding Editing Software

The editing software i used for the video was sony vegas pro 13, i believe that sony vegas is far easier to use and has more editing options than final cut pro. Furthermore i have experience in using sony vegas pro thus i used it as my editing software. The video below is a beginners guide on how to use sony vegas 13.

This is my own how to basic guide on how to use Sony vegas.

To ensure the video is of the highest caliber possible i also considered using advanced editing to the video, effects such as change in velocity, fading and transitions 

Another advanced edit we consider using in the video is the positioning of 2 video files in the same shot. This will be done via Pan/Crop as well as enveloping. 

This video has helped me gain more of an understating on how to do this. 

Research and Planning - How to make the video

Through my research on how to make a music video i had found that there is a lot of planing and schedule behind all of it. I found that first and foremost  there must be an idea on what the video is going to be about, it can be a story or simply a choreography display. The choice of video is entirely up to the director. Once the idea has been cemented further planning such as locations, actors, times and camera angles must then be decided. We decided to have a tragedy as the basis of our video, the song chosen will be "Always" by Killswitch engage. We looked through numerous story music videos to get an idea on what angles to use, lighting swell the typical type of location to use. We also had to get an actor and actress swell as a band for the video itself. We had the idea of making a hybrid video in the sense that half of it would be a band playing and the other half would be a story of a relationship. Another thing we noticed in our research was the use of editing. Though we had the physical part of the video established, eg Acting, Lighting, Camera angles etc we still needed to add effects and transitions. A lot of music videos use colour filters, saturation filters, Video FX as well as transitions. This would help our video run more smoothly to help portray the story and meaning behind the video. Below is a video i created showing the different editing techniques that could be used in the video, this is done through Sony Vegas pro 13.

Construction - Directors Commentary

Below is our directors commentary, we explain the reason and meaning behind each shot, camera angle, location etc

Construction - Lip Syncing

Initially we considered using Robert as our lead vocalist, however due to the fact that his lip syncing is not up to standard we looked for other options. Furthermore we thought that if Rob was the drummer rather than the vocalist it would add more meaning and leave room for interpretation of the video.

Kieran we believe had more emotion and gave more meaning to the song. furthermore his lip syncing was identical to the original track, and so Kieran was the clear choice to use.

Construction - Videos Showing Progression/Alterations

Our first releases of the music video were, we believe, below standard. There was a lack of emotion in the band playing as well as accurate instrument playing. Furthermore there was a lack of editing in the video. We released the video early  in the process of things, this gave us the opportunity to act upon the construction criticism from peers as well as the internet. Below is the initial video.

As you can see there was a lack of camera shots and transitions

The problem with this video is that the band did not look as if they were playing the song, lip syncing and instrument syncing was poor. Furthermore there was a lack of advanced editing as well as credits or a record label. This video is the closest video we had to perfection, there are only a few minor things to be altered

Research and Planning - Facebook/Twitter

For our Twitter and Facebook page we have followed a consistent house style, this promotes the professionalism of the band. The album and band name is easily visible and recognizable. Furthermore it follows the same style other bands/artists use for their own social network sites. It makes a statement that the band is not a one hit wonder but in fact a band that hopes to make an impact in the music industry.

Research and Planning - Filming schedule

As Wednesdays were our least busy day we decided to base the filming around that day, everyone else's timetable was also similar therefore filming on Wednesdays was the most efficient. We separated the band playing and the acting into separate filming sessions in order to not over work ourselves with filming. This strategy also helped us provide the best film footage possible. There was no particular time orientation that affected each shot, so the time of day the filming was taking place didn't matter.

Research and Planning - Prop List

Below are a series of pictures of the props used in the music video, this includes a microphone, Bass guitar, Electric Guitar and a set of drums. The props used are ones that are typically used in a metal music video, we have followed this to ensure that our video meets the expectations of a metal music video.

We also used a variety of filming equipment to ensure the best possible footage .

This included a Cannon camera, a tripod to ensure some shots are stable and lighting equipment to bring focus to certain shots. 

Research and Planning - Filming Risk Assessment Form

Research and Planning - Audience Feedback

Survey Monkey Audience Feedback


The link above takes you to a survey created for the purpose of feedback from the video. Below are a few results from the survey.

Research and Planning - Facebook and Twitter Accounts Research

I have researched into various genres social network sites to gain an understanding on how to design our bands Facebook and twitter. Typical with these social sites, the band/artist displays their recent album, this provides easy marketing. Furthermore the use of font and colours helps identify what the page is an its purpose. They also typically have a link to their store website for further marketing purposes. Despite the variation in genres, each social network site follow the same style and consistency, thus making them well received among the audience.

Research and Planning - Analysis of Previous students work

In our research we did not limit ourselves to professional music videos made by real band/artists. We however enlarged our scope and looked at previous students work as well. This way would could gain an understanding as to what was required of us and how we could excel to surpass the bare minimum. We looked at low as well as high level student work. We found that students who had researched, planned and put in time and effort to polish the video to the minute detail had produced the best results. However there were some elements lacking such as the variety of camera angles. In researching both the high end and low end of requirements, we could set out to ensure our video was near enough professional as possible. The video below is an example of previous students work, we chose this as it follows the same idea we hope to achieve. An example of a problem we noticed in this video was the lack of authentic instrument playing. This in our eyes hinders the whole concept of the video, if the band playing had been more authentic and believable, we think it would have overall been a more successful video. And so from this we are going to ensure that our actors used in the band have revised how the song should be played on their respective instruments.

Research and Planning - Music Video (Literal Understanding)

A music video or song video is a film or video rendition of a recorded song, often showing the musicians performing or showing images that illustrate the lyrics or the mood of the song.  Though most modern music videos are used for marketing purposes with the intention to help promote sales.  It is argued that music videos came into prominence with the introduction of MTV despite music videos dating back much further. Music videos vary in terms of style an techniques. It ranges from live action filming to animation.  Many music videos make use of the abstract lyrics to produce an abstract video, some producers tend to opt for the "interpretation" option which requires the audience to make their own interpretation about the video rather than it being given to them. Whereas other producers opt for the simple option and clearly show what the video is about and how it relates to the lyrics rather than leaving it to the audiences interpretation.

Research and Planning - Target Audience Research

Pop
The typical target audience for the pop genre are 12 - 20 year olds, mainly consisting of females. Out of all the genres of music Pop is one of the genres that get most media attention, such as youtube or music channels. The typical pop fan will mostly learn about new music from Music channels or the internet, they are your typical teenager. Normally the friends of said teenager will have the similar music taste and go to concerts together. There is no typical dress code of a pop fan, they will wear what is fashionable at the time, rather than wearing what pertains to their genre.

Rap 
Rap target audience are somewhat polar opposite to the target audience of the Pop genre. The target audience is are typically male teenagers/adults between the ages of 16-30. The target is much more mature as there are songs typically rife with profanities.  The typical rap fan would be mostly dressed in black normally wearing baggy clothing or trendy hats, large jewellery such as chains or earrings will also be part of the fashion Your typical rap fan would enjoy going out with a large group of friends particularly late at night, they are not one to go to many concerts but will go if the opportunity arises.

Rock
Compared to other genres, the rock genre typically has an equal divide in its demographic. There is a somewhat equal divide between the number of females and males, they are normally around 14 - 40+ . Typically young rock fans will clad themselves in black or leather, clothes typically consist of converse shoes and skinny  jeans. Older rock fans will normally be wearing leather and have tattoos. Your typical rock fans will attend most rock concerts even if the band playing are not their favorite. Often they will play an instrument to play along to their favorite songs. There is little distinction in audience of rock and the genres other variations

Research and Planning - Digipak Analysis

Typical with digipaks, the Deftones digipak "Diamond Eyes" contains the music CD as well as a Dvd Normally containing behind the scenes content from the band. The digipak has the album art on the front where as the on the back theres is a track listing as well a synopsis of DVD content. The album could have some tribute to the comatosed bassist Chi Cheng. The connection between an owl and "Diamond Eyes" could symbolise the overwatch and the thought the band has towards the bassist as he recovers from his state. The first inside cover contains a brief introduction to the band and the album, a feature that is rarely seen among popular artists digipaks. One could argue that these introductions help the band/artist retain a strong connection with their fan base. The contrasting colours of Black and orange could represent the feeling the band is going through at the moment as they progress without Chi Cheng. This album certainly doesn't produce highs as "White pony" did however it shows progression from a recent tragedy. The art and colour scheme is certainly typical of Nu- Metal digipaks, Diamond eyes undoubtedly follows this trend.

Research and Planning - Band Research

Killswitch engage is an American metalcore band from Massachusetts formed in 1999 from the disbandment of overcast as well as aftershock . The current lineup of the 5 man band consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, bassist Mike D'Antonio, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, and drummer Justin Foley. 

The band has released six studio albums and one DVD. Their latest album,released on April 2, 2013. 
Killswitch Engage rose to fame in 2004 with its song The End of Heartache, which was number 21 on the Billboard 200,The track,  was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005 for Best Metal Performance
The band has sold over four million records in the US  and has been widely known as the pioneers of metalcore 

1999-2001

Killswitch Engage was the product of the disbandment of Overcast and Aftershock during the 1990s. 
 After the eventual break up of Overcast in 1998, bassist Mike D jammed with Aftershock guitarist Adam  D for a period of time.Joel Stroetzel also from Aftershock was also recruited from Adam D. The band Nothing Stays Gold  were signed to a record label owned by Adams brother Tobias Dutkiewicz, and from this Jesse leach vocalist from Nothing stays Gold was also recruited to form the band, Killswitch Engage. 
1999 saw the development of a demo tape including the very first few Killswitch Engage songs, "Soil born", "Vide Infra", "Prelude" "In the unblind" The songs were first played as an opening act for death metal band "In Flames" The following year saw the release of their first self-titled album. Despite not attracting much attention in terms of landing any charts it did however interest the an employee at Road Runner records. This eventually led Killswitch engage accepting an offer from Road Runner Records

2001-2004

Killswitch Engage began writing new material for their second album in November 2001. The album was named Alive or Just Breathing .  During this time they released a music video for the single "My Last Serenade" which as a result helped the make the band became more well known. The album hit at 37 on the Top Heatseekers chart.
After the release of the album the band decided to recruit an extra member thus making them a fivesome  Adam D became the lead guitarist and Tom Gomes took the drummer position. Some time in 2002 Jesse Leach went through a phase of depression and dropped out of the band.
Howard Jones from Blood Has Been Shed filled the vacant position. 
After Ozzfest 2003, drummer Gomes left the band, he was replaced by Howard's band mate Justin Foley of Blood Has Been Shed

2004–2006

The End of Heartache was released on May 11, 2004, and peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200 with 38,000 sales in its first week. The album went on to sell more than 500,000 copies in the U.S and was certified gold on December 7, 2007.
"The End of Heartache" became the main single for the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and in 2005 the song was nominated for Best Metal Performance for the 47th Grammy Awards.

2006–2007

Recorded in three months, As Daylight Dies was released on November 21, 2006 and peaked at number 32 on the Billboard 200 chart with 60,000 sales in its first week. "As Daylight Dies" proved to be one of their biggest albums yet. As of November 27, 2007, As Daylight Dies has sold more than 500,000 units in the US.
The album's first single, "My Curse", peaked at number 21 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and is featured in the video games Sleeping Dogs and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

2007–2011

On April 14, the band announced the name of their album as Killswitch Engage, the second time the band has self-titled an album. The album was released on June 30, 2009,debuting at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, marking the band's highest chart position for an album. 

2011–present

On January 4, 2012, the band announced that Howard Jones had left the band after 9 years. The band's search for a singer ended in February with the signing of old band member Jesse Leach 
The new album Disarm the Descent was released April 1, 2013. The album debuted at #15 in the UK charts while debuting at #7 in the Billboard top 200. In December 2013 "In Due Time" was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 2014 Grammy Awards, but lost to "God Is Dead?" by Black Sabbath.

Evaluaion - How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

We used a huge variety of technology in order to create our music video and digipak. In the research and planning stage of our music video we relied heavily on software and the internet as it is a huge database of information which helped us create complete our research on music videos, other students work, record labels, special effects and more. We also used software such as Photoshop in order to create our storyboard, I used a Wacom Intuos Graphics tablet to draw out our scenes for our story board. We also used Photoshop to edit the photos of our band used for our photo shoot this involved taking pictures using a Canon camera and editing them. We then used the website Blogger to publish it all.

In the Construction stage we used technology to create and refine our music video and digipak. We used a variety of filming equipment to ensure the best possible footage. This included a Cannon camera and lighting equipment to bring focus to certain shots. We again used Photoshop to create all of the digipak including the CD case itself, the poster and the website art. We used Weebly to create the website where we posted our news and information. The editing for the music video was done in Sony Vegas Pro as can be seen in our Behind the scenes video where we edit and made the music video.

For our Evaluation we used Survey Monkey to create our audience feedback questionnaire and used a variety of social networks to spread awareness to the video. As well as this a variety of technology was used to host the screening for the music video including a projector and projector screen as well as a laptop in order to view it.

Evaluation - What have you learned from your audience feedback?

We created a survey so that the audience could respond and give feedback to the music video. The survey was not very successful with only a few people replying but stating that they liked the car crash scene claiming it was very powerful and sudden. Due to the sudden cut of the shot and the music so that the only sounds being heard were the sounds of the car crash. Another person stated that they thought our use of camera angles were very powerful especially the scenes in the house showing the couple separated by a literal and metaphorical wall. This was elaborated on by another person who answered the survey saying the emotion between the two main characters was very compelling.

However little constructive criticism was given and so we set up a group screening and interview of the music video where we asked five questions;

Question One: Is the genre of this music video clear? Does it fit the genre?

All of the interviewees identified the music video's genre as Metal/Rock and saying this was mainly sue to the tone of the video with its dark storyline and slow cinematography as well as he band playing.

Question Two: What do you think the narrative of the video is?

Again all the interviewees correctly identified that the storyline of the music video followed the story of a couple that meet and how their relationship slowly degrades until they argue and fight constantly until the girlfriend is in an accident and dies and the message that the girl is always there no matter what when the boyfriend is filled with the regret of her death.

Question Three: What would be the target audience for this music video?
                           Would it appeal to them? 

The interviewees stated that the audience would be mainly male between their teenage year and 40's which is representative of the music genre's audience. They also identified that anyone in a relationship would be able to relate to it and that the content of the music video was not genre specific as it involved a relationship.

Question Four: What do you think is the most successful part of the music video?

The interviewees identified a variety of specific parts they thought were successful with no one answer being the same to another's. One interviewee said that the use of the black and white filter was very good to convey emotion and that the storyline was very clear. Another interviewee said that the camera was effective to convey her perspective when the first person view was used just before her death. Another interviewee stated that the closeups of the instruments as well as the sound effect of the crash were very effective and helped show the suddenness of death. They also stated that the lyrics linked very well with the tone and story of the video. With other candidates identifying the cyclical structure in the video linking the beginning and the end of the video.

and finally...

Question Five: What do you think could have been improved?

The interviewees said that the singing was out of sync as well as the facial expressions of the actors which weren't convincing enough and didn't show enough emotion. Another saying there should be more storyline, however the majority said the storyline was very clear.

The criticism they gave is completely true and if we had the chance to do it again would certainly make sure they were improved upon

After Filming and Construction - Digipak Poster Planning and Construction

I started out the same way as with my CD, I used a black background and added a faded weathered look to the edge so as to create a border and mean that the poster wasn't solid black.

I then went ahead and added the band logo and album artwork.

After I had done that I added in the details about the tour. I added the other bands that would be touring with them as often bands who share a common taste in music tour together as well as the dates and venues they were playing at. I also added the record label, some social networking links, the ticket master logo who you would buy the tickets through and the monster log as they are who sponsor the tour.

I then experimented with the poster design firstly inverting the colour scheme.

I then added the open CD image that I had created in photoshop so the poster worked as a tour poster but also advertised the Album.

I then changed the background completely and removed the album artwork, CD and re arranged the band logos

After Filming and Construction - Website Planning and Construction

This is the home page of my website, I have a website banner promoting the Band's new CD with the band's Name and Album Name in the same font style and colour scheme as the rest of the digipak so as to keep a consistent style. I also have a short bio of who the band is, a promotional photo and their latest music video.

On this page I have kept the website banner at the top and made a blog where the band can easily post updates of upcoming news and messages.

This page is the photos page is has a gallery of photos you can look through of the band. I again have kept the website banner.

This is their video page where they have posted, their music video as well as a bloopers reel and editing diary for the music video.

This is their tour page where they post news of their latest tours, I have created a gallery of their tour posters that scroll through automatically.

This is their store page where they can post any merchandise or products they want to sell I have put their latest CD there on the store.

This is their contact page, this is used for anyone wanting to make enquiries or leave feedback. I have posted an address, phone number, email address and comments box

thefallenofficial

After Filming and Construction - Digipak CD Inside Cover Construction and Development

I started out with the same black faded design as the outside of my CD and worked from there.

I then added the Disk that I had made.

I made the disk by inverting the colours of the back ground the band font and the cardiovascular head. However I made the head have a slight reddish tinge to it.

I then added a group picture of the band and a thank you not to all the people that had helped make the music video possible

I then added a quote to the empty panel from the albums main song 'Always'.

After Filming and Construction - Digipak CD Outside Cover Construction and Development

 I started off by outlining the shape of the Digipak and adding a faded effect to each Panel just so the Digipak wasn't just a solid black shape.

 I then took my chosen font and put the band name on the front cover, I also put a vector showing a humans cardiovascular system because whilst in other genres of music the band is often the main focus of the album cover this often isn't true of metal and rock bands who will instead have Cover Art and feature an image of the band inside the digipack. I chose this image as this sort of imagery of skulls and dark imagery is associated heavily with the Metal Genre

I then added a smaller version of the bands logo to what become the outside edge of the digipak that the CD would be hinged on. I also added our record label and the legal text and barcode.

I then began work on the back cover of the CD adding the track list for the CD in the same font as the band name's font so as to keep it consistent. I then added some more photoshop vectors to fill the dark spaceleft on the back cover of flies as decay and plague are also themes associated with the metal genre.

I finally added an image of the bands lead singer that goes on the foldout cover.

Construction - Fonts Used For Final Product

 I looked at a variety of fonts common in the Rock and Metal genre for Our digipack, Focusing on clear bold fonts often with distorted or corrosive textured effects. Its connotating the often destructive nature of the music.

In the end I chose the the bottom most font as I feel it has more character and shares the same look as the want I want for my digipak and that my audience will relate to. The majority of the other fonts were too bold and blocky these keeps the eroded look but is more legible.

Construction - Before/After Edited Pictures

After the photoshoot I edited  the pictures, removing a lot of the background so it was plain, putting filters as I didnt like the saturation on the photos the colours were too strong and added the weatherd faded effect to the edges that I had used on my digipack so as to remain consistent.